For example, the Pico neighborhood scored consistently lower than its more affluent neighbors — most notably around the question of community. “This anxiety about community, and being supported or not supported by it, was a huge theme, especially in this area of Santa Monica,” she said. The disbursement of the microgrants coincided with heightened tensions in the Pico neighborhood about voter enfranchisement and how the community is represented in city hall. The same week the checks went out, Pico resident Maria Loya was in court suing Santa Monica to upend its citywide at-large election system. “These microgrants,” the mayor explained, “are a way of saying we don’t have the solutions, you have the solutions.

Source: Ethiopian News October 04, 2018 00:11 UTC